Valentine's Day
by Ashley9
Summary: T/R I thought we should get the Valentine's Day fics rolling! Original name Huh?


A/N-Hey all, well this is my first GG fanfic and I thought since Valentine's day is fast approaching we should start the ball bouncing. Hope you enjoy it! OH! and lets pretend the whole season finale didn't happen and that Tristan didn't go off to military school........oh if only the world were perfect! I would be a happy girl! I also had no beta reader for this so please forgive me if anything is off.   
Disclaimer-I do not own Gilmore Girls, that privilege belongs to Amy Sherman Palladino. I know everyone says this but it's true, I wish i owned Tristan:) I also don't own A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks but I do recommend the book to those who haven't read it. Its a tearjerker!   
  
  
  
  


Rory carefully dog-eared the page of her newest book and set it down on the small bench beside her. February. Many would have thought that the cold would have bothered her as she sat outside in her mandatory blue skirt and black pea coat, but actually she welcomed the cold it helped her get her mind off of certain upcoming events. It would soon be Valentine's Day and she was all alone.   
The town of Stars Hollow, being as festive as they were had the town simply plastered in pink and red decorations, with the exception of the diner of course. Luke said the town looked like a pepto bismol factory exploded and though she didn't voice her opinion Rory agreed wholeheartedly with him. Her mother had started casually dating once again but was very careful not to get too close to anyone. Jess was wrapped around the new blonde who "kept him warm" as he said. Lane had Henry.....well with the help of Rory, Lane had Henry, and Dean, well they were yet to make amends and Rory was quickly losing hope. Of course, the rest of the town was content with their odd matches. Miss Patty had another boyfriend he was only 25 this time. Their neighbors Babette and Morey were living in their own world of lawn gnomes, sing alongs and new kittens. So it came to be that the only two people in Stars Hollow free for Valentine's Day were Rory and Luke.   
Rory sighed as the bus that would take her to Chilton or the gates of hell as it was fondly referred to by her mother pulled up to the curb and opened its doors with a whoosh. Grabbing her book and heaving the heavy book bag onto her shoulders, Rory pulled herself up the stairs and flopped down into her regular seat. She could tell, that this was going to be a bad day.   
Fourty Five minutes later, Rory was entering Chilton prep nose buried as was customary into her newest book A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks. When she first heard about it, she couldn't imagine herself ever reading it but curiosity got the better of her and now she found herself completely enthralled in the tale of a bittersweet teenage romance. The crowd of students seemed to part for her, all except for one stubborn body whom she ran right into. Her book fell to the floor and as she was bending down to get it she saw a familiar hand on her arm and another one reach down to get the book "couldn't have you flashing the entire student body now could we Mary?" the voice taunted and even before looking up she could see the smirk on the handsome face of Tristan Dugrey. She snatched the book back quickly before he had the chance to hold it out of her reach and responded in kind " that would be kind of hard to do considering everyone here, except for those who like to make fun of me don't even notice I exist." In that moment with Rory Gilmore looking up at him eyes blazing with anger he knew she was right. She didn't stand out but she didn't blend in completely either she was just......there. Her existence meaning nothing to anyone but him. Quickly changing the subject he asked "So Mary, can I walk you to your locker? I mean, I wouldn't want you to get lost or anything." She glared at him heatedly "considering I'm incompetent and not capable of finding my way to the locker I've had all year and besides, with everyone excluding me of course having those tacky hearts on their lockers it would be so easy to confuse mine with everyone else's." Like Stars Hollow, Chilton took great pride in their Valentine traditions, there was the dance that was going to be on Valentine's Day and the yearly "Wear your heart on your locker" week. Pink and red hearts, depending on preference, were decorated with glitter, marker and every other decorating tool known to man and taped to the front of locker doors. On these hearts the proclamation of the Valentine of the owner of the locker would be written in big bold letters and of all the students at Chilton, Rory's was the only locker bare. Even Paris which had been a BIG surprise had the name of a classmate of theirs written proudly on her heart and Tristan being Tristan and a male had exactly 50 miniature hearts on his locker one for each of his conquests so far that year. Rory was disgusted. She pushed her way past him and continued down the corridor. Tristan didn't make a move to follow her knowing it would only make her more angry. He stared at her quickly retreating form and decided this Valentine's Day he would make her feel special, and maybe it would be just enough to convince her he wasn't the conceited jerk he appeared to be.   
Tristan whistled happily as he threw open the gates of hell and let the crisp air hit him. He was feeling alive. Spotting the group of girls hanging around his new sports car he ceased his whistling, he had to stop this or Rory would solidify her thoughts of him. Jogging over, he told the girls as suavely as he could that he was seeing someone from another school and that if she ever saw him with all the girls following him he would be in the doghouse. The girls whined and cajoled as he hopped into the car, gave a curt nod and screeched out of the parking lot. He loosened his tie, unbuttoned a couple of the top buttons and resumed his whistling this was going to be perfect. He pulled into the horseshoe driveway, directly in front of the gaudy fountain that his mother had picked out when the house was built, he shook his head and grabbed his schoolbag from the passengers seat. This was his life, his world and he figured he might as well get used to it considering that someday when the old man was six feet under this would be all his, but he didn't want it. He wanted a life, wanted to go to Harvard with Rory not Princeton with "the future millionaires of the world" he could get anything material he wanted, but any hopes or dreams he had were quickly dashed by his overbearing father. The door to the four storey gray mansion slowly creaked open and his younger sister Isabelle flung herself out at his legs, she latched on hugging him with all her might and Tristan laughed "Hello squirt! how was your day?" "Oh Tristan! I had so much fun! our play group went to the zoo and I saw a Hippo.....hippo" "Hippopotamus?" Tristan offered "YEA!" she squealed he chuckled again and shrugged his book bag onto his shoulders "come Josephine, you want to go flying?" she giggled and reached her small arms up to him. He swooped down and swung her up into his arms. She squealed louder this time and a maid came running to the door to see what was causing the commotion she smiled when Tristan yelled "SUPER ISABELLE!" and ran into the house and up the stairs. Shutting the door quietly she sighed, at least they had each other.   
Rory leaned her head against the cool pane of glass and watched the outside world fly by. She felt herself being lulled to sleep but jumped fully awake again, she could've sworn she saw a pair of bright blue eyes flash in front of her own. She heard his voice echo in her mind 'mary, mary, mary, mary' in all honesty she had come to think of it as more of a pet name then an insult and it kind of made her feel special just like the way she could feel his eyes casually roam over her body when he was suppose to be listening in class made her feel warm inside. 'NO RORY!' she shook her head ' you cannot under any circumstances like him! he's a jerk, the bane of your existence and a complete Don Juan! oh but those eyes, and his tousled hair and the way he runs he tongue over his lips looking so damn good!' she groaned in frustration. ever since that kiss a madeline's party there was no denying that she was attracted to him, they shared a secret and that made him so much more desirable. The bus screeched to a stop, jolting Rory out of her reverie. She looked out the window and was surprised to find that they had arrived back in Stars Hollow. A few minutes later Rory was at he house brewing a pot of coffee, she changed into a pair of flannel pajama bottoms and a long sleeve T-shirt, she sighed contentedly it was good to be home. She sat down with her coffee and a danish bought at one of Luke's recent danish days, her mother must have overlooked it 'oh well' she thought 'her loss' she began sifting through the mail that had been thrown haphazardly across the table and saw a bright fluorescent pink piece of paper fall to the floor. Bending down to pick it up she saw a note scribbled across the expanse. 

Hey Babe,   
Michel decided to "forget" to tell me about a convention in Florida. GO FIGURE! so that's where i am hahahahaha your stuck in the cooolllldddd! anyway, i'm going to be gone all week but I know you'll be ok if you have any trouble you have a whole town at your beck and call! Sookie should be bringing the jeep to you tonight so feel free to drive yourself to school just remember gas money is outta your pocket! if you need me call.   
Love ya sweetheart!   
mom   
P.s-Happy Valentines day! OH! and don't do anything I wouldn't do like going swimming naked in the lake! 

Rory had to laugh despite her rotten mood. She was all alone on the one week she didn't think she could stay alone.   
Tristan rubbed a tired hand across his face. After he had gotten home and played a rousing game of pilot with Isabelle he had set right to work on homework and had only finished now. He put Isabelle to bed and powered up his laptop another "sorry Tristan but we're going away for awhile present" his parents just didn't get it! neither he or Isabelle wanted gifts they wanted their parents. He knew that his father would say it blasphemous for a Dugrey to actually go OUT to shop so Tristan decided to do his shopping online. He closed his eyes and pictured Rory, from her saddle shoes all the way up to her chestnut hair and without thinking typed in the web site that would lead him to her perfect gift. Valentine's Day rolled around and when Tristan whacked his alarm clock off when it rang at 5:30 AM he realized he was a nervous wreck. The gift had come the night before and everything was perfect, after much debate as to what to put on the small and simple card Tristan decided to put "To Rory" because if right away she knew it was from him she would give it back to him professing her love for that giant oaf of a boyfriend. He didn't think his heart could take it. Looking at the clock again Tristan gasped seeing it was almost six o'clock he had spent almost a half an hour in inner turmoil. He ran to his luxurious and private bathroom, hopping in and out of the shower in record time. He threw on his uniform grabbed the present and dashed out of his bedroom stopping only once to creep into his sisters room and lay a feather light kiss to her forehead. taking the stairs two at a time he gulped down a cup of coffee with a quick refusal of food, if he were to eat anything the butterflies in his stomach the size of bats would make sure it didn't stay down there long. He started his car and left with his infamous squeal of tires. The game plan get in and out as quickly as possible. He had asked Mr. Medina for the keys to his classroom and albeit reluctantly the student's favorite teacher agreed and promised his silence. Pulling into his parking space Tristan flung the door open and slammed it shut already running towards the building it was kind of exhilarating actually he felt like James Bond on a secret mission objective-to get the girl. Placing the unwrapped gift gently onto her desk he placed a kiss to his finger tips and transferred it onto the smooth surface. This was it, it had to be. Taking one last glance back Tristan ran out the door shutting it quietly behind him and dropped the keys in Mr. Medina's mail box. Hopping back into his car he let out a sigh of relief "end phase one" he said quietly into his watch he did that often acted exactly how HE wanted to when no one was looking of course and for once since he got his license he drove quietly out of the lot.   
Rory had taken her time getting out of bed this morning since she was going to drive herself, there was no rush and she entered Chilton feeling refreshed at the change in her morning,. She looked around and thought she was going to puke. Rory Gilmore did believe in love but this was ridiculous. Leaning against almost every second locker was a pair of sweethearts locked in a heated embrace and as luck would have it, Rory's was one of those second lockers. A few pokes and "excuse me's" later the couple had moved away leaving Rory to get ready for first period. She walked slowly and ended making it to Mr. Medina's class a few minutes before the first bell, they had resolved a lot of things in the months since school had started and she felt comfortable in his presence again. She turned the corner into the classroom and saw a group of girls gathered around her desk oohing and ahhhing over something, apprehension gripped at her chest tightly 'another prank' she thought as her spirits sunk 'why couldn't everyone just leave her alone?' she pushed past the circle and stopped short when she saw what all the fuss was about. There on her desk was a leather bound copy of the complete works of Jane Austen, her favorite author. The cover was a dark blue and the letters were a beautiful gold, the pages were guilded and they shone in the morning light, the book was about 4 inches thick and it must have cost a fortune. To complete it a long stemmed red rose was held in place by a creamy white ribbon and the card simply said "To Rory." She was overwhelmed and had to tear her eyes away when her curiosity got the better of her and she scanned the room looking for the person who did this. Just as the last bell rang a disheveled Tristan strutted into class proudly and Rory automatically smiled at him, this was the best day ever.   
Tristan ran into class in the nick of time. After completing his mission he went home to drive Isabelle to her play group and got sidetracked with one of her animated tales. When he stepped through the threshold he was immediately greeted with the sight of Rory's beautiful smile and he felt compelled to smile too. She like the gift. No, she loved the gift and what made her happy made him happy. He was going to talk to her after class.   
Rory nearly skipped to her locker after English class. She couldn't wait till lunch time when she could start to read her book. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Tristan approach her 'what the heck?' she thought and she turned and gave him a full fledged smile. "My my Mary aren't we chipper this morning" she only grinned wider "you know what Tristan, there is no way anything could ruin my day. Not even the Mary remark." "Oh and what pre tell has made you so happy on this the sappiest of all days?" "this" she breathed carefully pulling her book out of her book bag "wow" he said with a smile "can I see?" 'no harm in that' she thought and passed the book over to him. He feigned wonderment as he inspected the book and asked nonchalantly "so, who's it from?" her smile lessened a bit and she replied "that's the problem, I mean Its the best thing anyone has ever given me and I have an idea of who its from but its weird......." she trailed off and Tristan looked at her with a raised eyebrow "what's weird?" and then with twinkling eyes she delivered the final blow to his heart "I never told Dean who my favorite author was, I guess this was just boyfriend intuition and his way of saying sorry." Tristan's eyes moved downward and he was sure he would see his heart on the floor by her feet, so this was it, his final try and he failed, as usual, the one girl that he TRULY cared for still loved her boyfriend. As he valiantly tried to fight tears he looked up into her shining eyes and shoved the book back at her, harder then necessary. "well congratulations Rory, I wish I could say I was happy for you but I can't because he doesn't deserve you. Hope it works out this time" with that Tristan Dugrey jogged down the halls and out of her life.   
He was skipping school, but he didn't care. He pushed his newest mix into his custom cd player built just for him into the car that his parents had just bought him. The CD he was now listening to was for when he was mad at his parents, at himself or at the world and this was definitely one of those times. He drove at least 30 mph over the speed limit and swerved dangerously into the spot where he would always come to listen to this CD. His car was parked close to the edge of a cliff over looking a large lake, it really was beautiful but Tristan didn't like it for what it looked like only what it could offer in seclusion. He reached over and spun the volume button up to the highest notch and he felt the heavy base vibrate the car his ears were pounding and he was seething. Suddenly he felt the urge to scream in frustration, in agony and in sadness so he gave into that urge and hammered his hand on his steering wheel hard "DAMN IT!" he thundered drowning out the music. He could take it when his parents went away and didn't call for weeks at a time, he could take it when he was alone or when his parents were screaming at him for no reason but the two things he couldn't take was seeing his sister cry and being denied the only thing he ever wanted. He got out of the car and slammed the door as hard as he could and the windows shook. Walking over to the edge he pulled out his thick black italian leather wallet and reached inside. Behind his picture of his sister was a smaller photo removed from last year's yearbook, Rory Gilmore, she was special. He knew that when he found the right girl, the perfect one for him she would be the one he wanted to take to meet his sister and Rory was that girl. They would have gotten along perfectly. But now there was no way he could deny it any longer she would never feel the same way about him as he felt about her. Tears fell freely from behind his closed lids as he took the fragile picture of his Mary in his hands and savagely tore it apart setting the pieces free into the wind.   
She knew it was still the morning and she knew she shouldn't be leaving the school, but she also knew two other things: Dean wasn't the one who gave her the book, and there was something definitely up with Tristan Degree. She slid into the drivers seat of the jeep and headed towards Stars Hollow. She had some thinking to do. It was the longest drive of her life and she was never more relieved to see the tell tale signs of her town. Pulling into the small Driveway in front of her house she slowly got out of the car and walked inside, she dropped her things in a heap next to the door but still clutched the very mysterious book tightly to her chest. Dropping heavily onto her bed she turned the book over and over feeling the smoothness of the cover and the slight dips that marked where a letter was, the rose was still tucked into the pages and Rory pulled it out smelling its sweet fragrance whoever had given her this wonderful gift had put a lot of time and consideration into it, they had removed all the thorns from the rose, knew that a rose was her favorite and that she loved Jane Austen. It was remarkable. Where she had opened the book to remove the rose the ribbon and tag fell out too. She fingered the small card and looked at the gently curving writing on it, no one had ever made her name look so good. She caught a small scent on the card and brought it closer to her nose, she knew that smell it was clean and sweet and smelled just like.........TRISTAN! she sat straight up and knew she had made a mistake, she had to find him. She dashed out the door forgetting her coat and jumped into the jeep, she drove recklessly and slammed on the breaks hard when she saw a familiar car and figure. Pulling quickly into the small space beside the expensive vehicle she vaulted out and ran to the figure. "Tristan?" she questioned reaching for him, he spun around catching her off guard his cold eyes frightened her. "What are you doing here Rory? I would have thought you too well behaved to skip school and I would have expected you to be with Dean" his voice mocked the taller boy and Rory took a step forward "why did you give me the book Tristan? Please tell me the truth" Tristan sighed dejectedly and looked her in the eyes shaking his head he threw up his arms "I don't know Rory! Call me crazy but I just.... I just wanted to make you feel special! but it wasn't just for you, oh no I had my selfish reasons for doing it. Lets face it, my memories suck! my parents don't love my sister or I and I thought maybe that if I did something, even if you didn't know it was me and I made you smile I would remember that for the rest of my life!" When his outburst was finished he was out of breath and Rory could only utter a meek "oh" "Yea Rory that's my reasons, because like it or not I have feelings for you and they aren't going to go away." She felt a click in her brain as it all came together, that's what those feelings meant she cared about Tristan. Throwing caution to the wind she leaned in and kissed him, it was a kiss as sweet as the one they shared on the piano bench. they pulled apart at the same time and he laid his forehead on hers "you're not running away" he observed "or crying" seeing her watery eyes he said "maybe not" she managed a chuckle and reassured him "this time, I'm not going anywhere." He noticed her shivering and opened his coat, pulling her into his arms he whispered to her "hey Mary, do you want to meet my sister?"   
  


A/N-Well there it was! what did you think? please leave a review, it would make me VERRRRYYYY happy!   
REVIEW!!!!   
I live in Canada and our Gilmore Girl episodes are behind by 5 so if any details are lacking SORRY! and this is directed to all the Trories I just saw Jess last night and personally I don't like him (no offense to Jess fans) although I did laugh when Luke pushed him into the lake LOL! but seriously folks KEEP THE TRORY PRIDE ALIVE!!!!! don't join the dark side! there just using him to take Tristan's place as resident bad boy! ok enough of my ramblings. review!!!! 


End file.
